nodakdive
Contributor
Did a 2 week trip with a group of 5 divers and 3 non divers. Most of us stayed at Casa del Mar, 2 were at the Barracuda. Ate and dove all over the place. Had an amazing trip.
Did most of our diving at Deep Blue with Sandro as DM and Roberto as Captain. Got one trip in with Chono as Captain. As it was Carnival and there were at least two Deep Blue staffers who were ill, we did some diving with freelancers, who ranged from Great to So-So. Would have loved to do some dives with Allen and Rodrigo, but both were ill.
Sandro also conducted a referral and the AOW for one of my friends, and did an amazing job of that too. Roberto and Chono were, as always, standout boat captains. Between Sandro and those two, we had the trip of a lifetime as far as I'm concerned. Sandro has his reputation for a reason, he's just that good and loves it that much. We did several dives that were non standard routes and we did a second Maracaibo specifically to take a different route. One was an arch dive, the other had us on reef at 60 feet for some time. Both amazing dives. He always asks where you want to go and if there's a specific request, we go there conditions permitting, but we quickly wound up just wanting to go wherever he wanted to take us. By the end of the trip, my new to the ocean buddy dove everything on the west except Chunchakaab, Yucab, Las Palmas and the 3 normal north sites. Can't say enough about Sandro. Or Chono and Roberto for that matter. Been diving with Allen in the past and Rodrigo once a long time ago, and all of these people are real pros.
Really liked some of the freelancers too. All were nice, but some you just connect with more than others. Pasqual, Jose and Jesus were a hoot and did good jobs, and we didn't get to dive with Jackie, but she was on the boat with another group a few times, and she was very fun to be around. She joked, she took jokes, I suspect she's a really good DM too. I listened to her briefings, and they were well done.
We almost got to do some dives with Aldora, but things didn't work out this trip. Maybe next time. My dealings with their shop were prompt etc. The deposit they required was extremely reasonable, and I haven't checked, but they said they'd refund it and I have no reason to expect they won't. Got to meet Rachel and Andrew. Very helpful, nice people.
Casa del Mar was perfect for our group again. Some had only been to Cancun at the Moon Palace, and I was getting hugged, etc, for bringing them to "real" Mexico. They loved the hotel, the staff, everything. It was a really good group too, that was able to take care of themselves and weren't afraid to try things. I did explain that Cozumel is Mexico, and real, but that even it was a special gem. The bar was even making special drinks for me. I bought some Peach juice and some Mango juice and they were making me Peachaide and Mango/vodka drinks. They wouldn't charge me for the Duranzada. Funny story, true story....Chocolate Ice Cream and Mango juice, vodka or not, go together. CDM splits the difference between big resort and hole in the wall. Everyone of them loved not having to walk a mile to get to the restaurant for instance, or the dock. The food is good, though the menu is small. They don't charge for dock usage. Also, they new dive concierge was really nice to us. We weren't diving with them, but they treated us like friends every morning and afternoon. Del Mar simply rents the dive building from CDM now. You still get to use lockers there if you're staying at the hotel. Way to go, CDM, for treating your guests like guests and letting them use all of your facilities. (Oh, btw, they have an AI plan, and one day in the Moon Palace crowd figured out that they could stay at CDM, AI, and still pay far, far less than the Moon Palace AI. Apples and Oranges, maybe, but they were amazed.
Some highlights:
1. Got to meet cvchief, Ross and Maureen, and some others whose names or handles I've forgotten. Got to meet chief's Mom, who doesn't begin to look her age and got to sing a different version of Happy Birthday at El Moro. In a rare art accident, I made a Rhino hat out of my balloon. The food was good, the Margs flowed and also lucked into having the one, the only, the bane of all lion fish that are in places they ought not be, Pelagicsal, with our group. She was so nice and talked about lion fish and spearing them, the island, restaurants and island life. Everyone there was as pleasant as punch and we had a great time. In addition, I got to scare Alison into thinking I was going to overthrow the Maximus, or steal all it's Margaritas or something. In any event cvchief is apparently guarded like a celebrity. I think she knows where his tequila stash is hidden.
2. Dove the Pit and Dos Ojos with Monstro (Mostro Puk) south of Playa del Carmen. Second time I got to dive with him, and he's great above and below. The guy even bought me some pepitas, and I'm all about the pepitas. Very informative. Very safe. Fun. Relaxed. Great guy. Will DEFINITELY request him for any cavern dives in the future. I could write a book about the lengths to which he went 2 years ago with a different group. Outstanding guide. Great guy.
3. Continued Reef Recovery - I started coming before, and I've been there once or twice a year since Wilma. I've been amazed every year at the growth. Ok, it was a bad thing, and it scrubbed the reefs, blah blah blah. I look at it this way, I had the opportunity to see a cycle in nature that probably doesn't happen so often. So, this year, I'm blown away by what I consider to be almost exponential growth since last year. For my limited experience, the last several years seemed just about status quo, but now it's like the place is on steroids. It's probably just me, but I wonder if the good hard scrub cleared more/new hard places for things to settle on and grow, plus, the fish sizes and numbers threw me for a loop. Saw many schools with larger numbers than I remembered before Wilma. Turtles, sharks, big grouper, big barracuda, triggers till you were sick of them, soft stuff, etc. Sandro took us on some strange Palancar route and maybe it was never harmed, but the orange rope sponge was really, really thick. Also saw huge barrels that must have survived the hurricane?
4. Eagle Rays. Saw the largest and smallest I've ever seen. The little one was at Villa Blanca at about 60 near the end of the dive. We did the dive twice, both times shallow. (50-60 feet). They guys with me were blown away and kept wanting to go back. Anyhow, Scooter the Eagle Ray came right over to us, swam around us, and slowly flew away.
5. Thought I'd seen a big barracuda and I have seen some big barracuda. I had not seen a big barracuda until now.
6. El Cielo. The beach. Loved it. Thanks Roberto and Sandro. 2nd time there for me.
7. Ran into the guy that had food poisoning about 4 years ago. Afternoon dive that time. He threw up under the water, on the water, off the boat, on the SI, on the second dive, after the second dive and from the caletta to the Park Royal, we had to pull the taxi over 6 times. Small, brutal world. I was telling the story, and he said, "Hey, that was me!!" He even remembered that the taxi drive went past the Royal and to CDM and I insisted he turn around right away and take the guy to the royal. Poor dude. He looks great now.
8. O'Hana's. OK, the food was amazing. The service was amazing. The pizza was amazing. The back garden or whatever was amazing, and to top it all off, Matt, the owner, pulled my caboose out of a tight spot by calling our dive shop on his cell and handing it to me to fix dives for the next day. I worked at one of the best, most loved pizza places in Mpls. St. Paul. They were known for the excellent chicago style deep dish pizza. O'Hana's blew that out of the water. Can't remember what I had, but it was really good, maybe fish or shrimp. It was something that came with the veggies and rice. Got to try the pizza as others had it. Wow.
9. La Terraza. - If you haven't been, go. It's Italian, but they have everything. It's in the old Prima spot. It's basically the old Prima menu, so if you liked Prima, you'll like this. We went early in the trip due to my experience with the place. Every time I've taken people there, they go back, sometimes several times. The first night, they made us a linguine dish that isn't on the menu, but I'd had it at Prima when it was still Prima. It wasn't on the Prima menu either, it was a special. Shrimp Linguine in a bleu cheese alfredo. We had Caprese salads to start. Everyone loved it. One said it was the best meal he'd ever had in his life. I had the best steak I've ever had in my life there. They are extremely accommodating and friendly. Drinks are good and I love the garlic bread, vinegar, olive oil thing.
10. My friends got to do and see things they maybe didn't think they wanted to, or would, or could, and they loved it. Food. Submarine rides. Deep Dives. Cenotes. Punta Sur park. East side. "Real" Mexico. They loved the people, the place, the food, the hotel, everything. I did get a little beat up though by the wife of the new diver. He's sooooo hooked on diving. I'll take that punch.
I could go on.
Fwiw,
-Blair
Did most of our diving at Deep Blue with Sandro as DM and Roberto as Captain. Got one trip in with Chono as Captain. As it was Carnival and there were at least two Deep Blue staffers who were ill, we did some diving with freelancers, who ranged from Great to So-So. Would have loved to do some dives with Allen and Rodrigo, but both were ill.
Sandro also conducted a referral and the AOW for one of my friends, and did an amazing job of that too. Roberto and Chono were, as always, standout boat captains. Between Sandro and those two, we had the trip of a lifetime as far as I'm concerned. Sandro has his reputation for a reason, he's just that good and loves it that much. We did several dives that were non standard routes and we did a second Maracaibo specifically to take a different route. One was an arch dive, the other had us on reef at 60 feet for some time. Both amazing dives. He always asks where you want to go and if there's a specific request, we go there conditions permitting, but we quickly wound up just wanting to go wherever he wanted to take us. By the end of the trip, my new to the ocean buddy dove everything on the west except Chunchakaab, Yucab, Las Palmas and the 3 normal north sites. Can't say enough about Sandro. Or Chono and Roberto for that matter. Been diving with Allen in the past and Rodrigo once a long time ago, and all of these people are real pros.
Really liked some of the freelancers too. All were nice, but some you just connect with more than others. Pasqual, Jose and Jesus were a hoot and did good jobs, and we didn't get to dive with Jackie, but she was on the boat with another group a few times, and she was very fun to be around. She joked, she took jokes, I suspect she's a really good DM too. I listened to her briefings, and they were well done.
We almost got to do some dives with Aldora, but things didn't work out this trip. Maybe next time. My dealings with their shop were prompt etc. The deposit they required was extremely reasonable, and I haven't checked, but they said they'd refund it and I have no reason to expect they won't. Got to meet Rachel and Andrew. Very helpful, nice people.
Casa del Mar was perfect for our group again. Some had only been to Cancun at the Moon Palace, and I was getting hugged, etc, for bringing them to "real" Mexico. They loved the hotel, the staff, everything. It was a really good group too, that was able to take care of themselves and weren't afraid to try things. I did explain that Cozumel is Mexico, and real, but that even it was a special gem. The bar was even making special drinks for me. I bought some Peach juice and some Mango juice and they were making me Peachaide and Mango/vodka drinks. They wouldn't charge me for the Duranzada. Funny story, true story....Chocolate Ice Cream and Mango juice, vodka or not, go together. CDM splits the difference between big resort and hole in the wall. Everyone of them loved not having to walk a mile to get to the restaurant for instance, or the dock. The food is good, though the menu is small. They don't charge for dock usage. Also, they new dive concierge was really nice to us. We weren't diving with them, but they treated us like friends every morning and afternoon. Del Mar simply rents the dive building from CDM now. You still get to use lockers there if you're staying at the hotel. Way to go, CDM, for treating your guests like guests and letting them use all of your facilities. (Oh, btw, they have an AI plan, and one day in the Moon Palace crowd figured out that they could stay at CDM, AI, and still pay far, far less than the Moon Palace AI. Apples and Oranges, maybe, but they were amazed.
Some highlights:
1. Got to meet cvchief, Ross and Maureen, and some others whose names or handles I've forgotten. Got to meet chief's Mom, who doesn't begin to look her age and got to sing a different version of Happy Birthday at El Moro. In a rare art accident, I made a Rhino hat out of my balloon. The food was good, the Margs flowed and also lucked into having the one, the only, the bane of all lion fish that are in places they ought not be, Pelagicsal, with our group. She was so nice and talked about lion fish and spearing them, the island, restaurants and island life. Everyone there was as pleasant as punch and we had a great time. In addition, I got to scare Alison into thinking I was going to overthrow the Maximus, or steal all it's Margaritas or something. In any event cvchief is apparently guarded like a celebrity. I think she knows where his tequila stash is hidden.
2. Dove the Pit and Dos Ojos with Monstro (Mostro Puk) south of Playa del Carmen. Second time I got to dive with him, and he's great above and below. The guy even bought me some pepitas, and I'm all about the pepitas. Very informative. Very safe. Fun. Relaxed. Great guy. Will DEFINITELY request him for any cavern dives in the future. I could write a book about the lengths to which he went 2 years ago with a different group. Outstanding guide. Great guy.
3. Continued Reef Recovery - I started coming before, and I've been there once or twice a year since Wilma. I've been amazed every year at the growth. Ok, it was a bad thing, and it scrubbed the reefs, blah blah blah. I look at it this way, I had the opportunity to see a cycle in nature that probably doesn't happen so often. So, this year, I'm blown away by what I consider to be almost exponential growth since last year. For my limited experience, the last several years seemed just about status quo, but now it's like the place is on steroids. It's probably just me, but I wonder if the good hard scrub cleared more/new hard places for things to settle on and grow, plus, the fish sizes and numbers threw me for a loop. Saw many schools with larger numbers than I remembered before Wilma. Turtles, sharks, big grouper, big barracuda, triggers till you were sick of them, soft stuff, etc. Sandro took us on some strange Palancar route and maybe it was never harmed, but the orange rope sponge was really, really thick. Also saw huge barrels that must have survived the hurricane?
4. Eagle Rays. Saw the largest and smallest I've ever seen. The little one was at Villa Blanca at about 60 near the end of the dive. We did the dive twice, both times shallow. (50-60 feet). They guys with me were blown away and kept wanting to go back. Anyhow, Scooter the Eagle Ray came right over to us, swam around us, and slowly flew away.
5. Thought I'd seen a big barracuda and I have seen some big barracuda. I had not seen a big barracuda until now.
6. El Cielo. The beach. Loved it. Thanks Roberto and Sandro. 2nd time there for me.
7. Ran into the guy that had food poisoning about 4 years ago. Afternoon dive that time. He threw up under the water, on the water, off the boat, on the SI, on the second dive, after the second dive and from the caletta to the Park Royal, we had to pull the taxi over 6 times. Small, brutal world. I was telling the story, and he said, "Hey, that was me!!" He even remembered that the taxi drive went past the Royal and to CDM and I insisted he turn around right away and take the guy to the royal. Poor dude. He looks great now.
8. O'Hana's. OK, the food was amazing. The service was amazing. The pizza was amazing. The back garden or whatever was amazing, and to top it all off, Matt, the owner, pulled my caboose out of a tight spot by calling our dive shop on his cell and handing it to me to fix dives for the next day. I worked at one of the best, most loved pizza places in Mpls. St. Paul. They were known for the excellent chicago style deep dish pizza. O'Hana's blew that out of the water. Can't remember what I had, but it was really good, maybe fish or shrimp. It was something that came with the veggies and rice. Got to try the pizza as others had it. Wow.
9. La Terraza. - If you haven't been, go. It's Italian, but they have everything. It's in the old Prima spot. It's basically the old Prima menu, so if you liked Prima, you'll like this. We went early in the trip due to my experience with the place. Every time I've taken people there, they go back, sometimes several times. The first night, they made us a linguine dish that isn't on the menu, but I'd had it at Prima when it was still Prima. It wasn't on the Prima menu either, it was a special. Shrimp Linguine in a bleu cheese alfredo. We had Caprese salads to start. Everyone loved it. One said it was the best meal he'd ever had in his life. I had the best steak I've ever had in my life there. They are extremely accommodating and friendly. Drinks are good and I love the garlic bread, vinegar, olive oil thing.
10. My friends got to do and see things they maybe didn't think they wanted to, or would, or could, and they loved it. Food. Submarine rides. Deep Dives. Cenotes. Punta Sur park. East side. "Real" Mexico. They loved the people, the place, the food, the hotel, everything. I did get a little beat up though by the wife of the new diver. He's sooooo hooked on diving. I'll take that punch.
I could go on.
Fwiw,
-Blair
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